History of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education,
The Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri is located in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, Nigeria. The College was founded in 1963 as the Advanced Teachers Training College with technical assistance from UNESCO, by the defunct Eastern Nigeria Government on the grounds of the Old Shell Camp, Owerri. It has since expanded across the Orlu Road on the Nworie River. It was charged with the responsibility of training teachers in line with the Ashby report on Higher Education in Nigeria. In 1973, via Edict No. 11 promulgated by the Administrator of East-Central State of Nigeria, Ukpabi Asika, the Teachers College became a College of Education and was named Alvan Ikoku College of Education (A.I.C.E.), in honour of Mr. Alvan Ikoku, a teacher and educationist, founder of the first African owned secondary school in Nigeria (Aggrey Memorial Grammar School) and President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) for many years.
Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, started with 150 students and by 2012 the student population had grown to over 13,000, with over 600 academic staff. The students include regular undergraduates, sandwich course students, evening and weekend students and post-graduates studying the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE). It awards the National Certificate in Education (NCE) and the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and, in affiliation, with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) since 1984. In 1976, a campus of the College catering to the Department of Agriculture was established in Umuahia, now the capital of Abia State. Next was the establishment of an Orlu campus in 1981, but the multi-campus system was ended in 1987 and the College reverted to a single campus institution.
In 2007, the Federal Government took over the College and it metamorphosed into Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (A.I.F.C.E.), Owerri. The Federal Government take-over brought improved financial aid and the College has been able to renovate old structures, build large classrooms, laboratories and hostels and expanded the staff strength. It also enabled the College to start new departments and Schools and establish new ventures. On May 20, 2015, the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan upgraded the school to a full-fledged university to be called Alvan Ikoku University of Education. However, a few months later, the Muhammadu Buhari administration put the upgrade “on hold.” Presently, the Provost of the College is Dr.(Mrs) Stella Ngozi Lemchi.
The College is styled “primus inter pares”, first among equals in Colleges of Education in Nigeria, because of its outstanding impact in the teacher education sector in Nigeria. It is envisioned as a modern Federal University of Education in a clean and healthy environment, that is a centre for excellence in ICT research, whose graduates are well adjusted and functional individuals.
Source: alvanikoku.edu.ng
